Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research and a central figure in the collapse of the FTX crypto empire, has returned to the professional world. She has accepted a full-time position at Manifund, a nonprofit charity focused on effective altruism, according to a public announcement by the organization’s co-founder, Austin Chen.
The move marks a new, and controversial, chapter for Ellison, who was released from federal prison in January 2026. She began working at Manifund on a trial basis on July 13, 2026, before transitioning to a full-time role in August, developing the charity’s funding platform and philanthropic efforts.
Caroline Ellison Manifund: redemption or controversy?
In a lengthy Substack post published on September 11, 2026, Manifund co-founder and CEO Austin Chen detailed the decision to hire Ellison, framing it as an act of faith in personal rehabilitation. "I believe in redemption," Chen wrote. "Caroline has admitted her faults, worked to make creditors whole, and served her time in prison.
I’d like to give her the opportunity to contribute back to the world."
Chen revealed he felt a "keen debt" to the FTX Future Fund, which had provided seed funding for Manifund’s parent company. The decision to hire Ellison was not taken lightly, but Chen cited Manifund’s pressing need for talent with her specific expertise in finance and systems management.
He argued that her skills could be repurposed for social good. Navigating the complex world of US crypto laws has become a major focus for many organizations in the wake of the FTX scandal, making compliance and operational integrity paramount.
For her part, Ellison expressed gratitude for the opportunity. "I’m very grateful to Austin for giving me a second chance, and judging me on my current work performance rather than my past," she stated in Chen’s post.
"I feel very lucky not only to have a job, but to be working somewhere that I think is doing great work and has a mission I believe in."
The path to her employment began in June 2026, when Chen invited Ellison to Manifest, a festival hosted by the nonprofit. It was there that Ellison approached Chen about potentially joining the team, setting in motion the discussions that led to her hiring just weeks later.
From quantitative trading to charity operations
Ellison’s new role is a significant departure from her time at the helm of Alameda Research, a crypto trading firm that gambled with billions in customer funds. At Manifund, her responsibilities are strictly operational and technical. She is tasked with developing the charity’s platform, researching effective philanthropic strategies, and improving its technical infrastructure.
Crucially, Chen emphasized that Ellison will not be involved in selecting which projects receive funding. Her focus is on logistics, customer support, and backend systems. During her two-month trial period, for which she worked under the pseudonym "Carol," Ellison has already made a tangible impact.
According to Chen, she developed a reconciliation tool that identified misreported transactions totaling a "5-6 figure" sum in the Manifund database.
This specific achievement highlights the double-edged nature of her hiring. Her sharp quantitative skills, once used to navigate the volatile world of crypto trading at Alameda, are now being applied to ensure the integrity of a charitable foundation’s finances. It’s a practical application of her talents that Chen hopes will be her focus moving forward.
The work is far from the high-stakes, high-leverage environment of her previous job. Instead of managing billions in speculative assets, her day-to-day involves customer service improvements and operational streamlining. It’s a quiet, background role for a figure who was once at the center of one of the financial world’s biggest storms.
The long shadow of FTX and Alameda Research
Understanding the significance of Ellison’s new beginning requires revisiting her past. In December 2022, she pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. Her testimony was a key component of the prosecution’s case against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, her former boss and romantic partner.
Ellison admitted to her role in misleading lenders and participating in the scheme to use FTX customer deposits to cover trading losses and debts at Alameda. Her cooperation with federal prosecutors was instrumental in securing Bankman-Fried’s conviction; he is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence.
As part of her plea deal, Ellison was sentenced to two years, but was released after serving 14 months, in January 2026, due to her extensive cooperation.
The collapse of FTX in November 2022 wiped out billions of dollars in customer assets and sent shockwaves through the entire crypto industry. It exposed a web of financial mismanagement and fraud orchestrated by a small group of executives, with Ellison playing a pivotal role.
Her re-emergence into a position of trust, even within a nonprofit, is bound to be met with skepticism from the thousands of victims who lost their savings.
The case remains a stark reminder of the risks within the digital asset space and the need for robust oversight. It has drawn parallels to other market-shaking events and the subsequent focus on rebuilding trust, not unlike how some firms now aim to capture the massive corporate treasury market with regulated digital assets.
Effective altruism: a philosophy under scrutiny
Ellison’s new employer, Manifund, is deeply rooted in the effective altruism (EA) movement. This philosophical and social movement advocates using evidence and reason to determine the most effective ways to benefit others. It is the same ideology famously championed by Sam Bankman-Fried, who pitched FTX as a vehicle for generating vast wealth to be given away to charitable causes.
This connection adds a complex and somewhat ironic layer to the story. The EA movement suffered a significant reputational blow from its association with Bankman-Fried and the FTX scandal. Critics argued that the philosophy was used as a moral cover for reckless behavior and a single-minded pursuit of wealth, regardless of the ethical compromises involved.
Chen’s decision to hire Ellison, a key player in the scandal that tarnished effective altruism, can be seen in two lights. It is either a powerful testament to the EA principle of forgiveness and rational utility—using a skilled person’s abilities for the greater good—or a tone-deaf move that ignores the damage she helped cause.
Chen himself seems aware of this tension, directly acknowledging the debt he felt to a fund started by the very ecosystem Ellison helped to destroy.
Manifund’s focus is on projects related to artificial intelligence safety and other EA-aligned causes. By bringing Ellison into this world, Chen is making a bold statement about his belief that the principles of effective altruism can accommodate even its most notorious former adherents.
Whether the broader community, particularly victims of FTX, will agree remains an open question. Many in the crypto space are focused on moving forward with new innovations, like the rapid expansion of BNB Chain RWA Growth, hoping to leave the scandals of the past behind.